Europe's leaders ponder EU future (BBC)

By Tim Franks
BBC News, Brussels

The 25 leaders of the European Union countries are due to gather in Brussels with the aim once again of hammering out a direction for the EU.

They are considering how it should be organised and how much further it should grow.

This summit will cast its gaze over huge and spiky issues.

The first - and potentially the prickliest - is what to do with the proposed EU constitution - rejected by Dutch and French voters a year ago.

At the time, EU leaders solemnly agreed to a year long period of reflection to ponder what to do next.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5082124.stm

It's the first step in a world union with a world govt.

...was the first step towards a scary world union with a scary world government.

Eurasia, Eastasia and Oceania.

I haven't seen anything to suggest that the EU is part of some sinister plot to take over the world. In fact the only place I've ever heard such nonsense was from right-wing conspiracy nuts and religious maniacs.

:shrug:

It's more a statement about the concentration of power. Likely not a good thing in the end. Look at Congress for an example.

Fwiw, the EU, in some form or another, makes sense for Europe so that it can countervail Asia and the US.

Everybody tries to stay fit for the world.

The single small European countries can't survive economically if they continie each on his own.

Just look at the trade wars where the US is trying to divide and conquer and always tries to negotiate differently with each country.
Small countries can't demand anything in such negotiations.


Example:
Personal data about flight passengers and denial of landing rights on failure to submit the data.
Every EU country or airlines is deadly afraid of this. Afraid of being sigled out.
Would the EU stand together then they could say "No" and confront the US.

no landing rights for EU airlines... vice versa ... shut down all air traffic between the US and the EU for one week.
Like back then after 9/11.
Lets see how long it takes.

But no....
every country lets themselves be intimidated and turns over their private data to big brother.

The powerful people in the US and the powerful people in the EU hang together.

Geographical borders are obsolete. Wealth, Religion and Race are the new borders.

of the tower of babble which now divides nations.

no language has any idea which cannot be fully translated into all other languages, so there is nothing to be lost by a world language. Linguists proved that in the 'twenties, yet many have not heard it yet. Sad how progressive information spreads so slowly. What ever happened to "word of mouth"?

But many people in Europe, and most businesspeople, are multilingual.

etc. are not which makes it hard for example to organize and be competitive. They should really mandate for everyone to learn a "common language" Problem is they would never be able to agree which one to pick. It should be English but there would be resistance from France since it was all started French foreign minister Robert Schuman so they feel it's "their baby"

is essential and as long as the tower of babble continues it's doomed to fail.

The Babilonian Tower is much more in culture than in language.

English is the obvious choice from a practical perspective, but the politics of that particular choice are not so simple. I can't imagine the French accepting that, for one.

Everybody in Europe speaks English.
Students learn it in school anyway.
People use the internet.

there is no language barrier among younger (=<30) people anymore.

Where the fuck did you get that? I live in Sicily and I would say roughly 10% speak English. They do not teach it in their school system. You have to pay for English lessons from a private tutor and they are far too costly for most Sicilians. Now here is something that will shock you I lived in Oman for 2 years (tip of the Saudi Peninsula) and 95% of Omanis and the expat Indians and Pakistanis spoke beautiful English.

Many many many Europeans do not have a clue about English.

But yes, most under 30, urban, western European, working class or above speak at least some English.